Quality PHP Website Programming – 7 Guidelines to Help You Hire a Programmer or Web Development Firm

Today, website programming has become a business necessity making hiring a qualified website programmer or web development company essential to a business’ success. Finding an experienced and dependable website programmer can be a very challenging endeavor. Generally if you don’t have referrals for quality website programmers you are forced to search online and hope that you will come across a programmer or development company that can provide you with a custom website or an enhancement to your current website. It’s definitely a risk to hire a programmer you really know nothing about. Most of the time it’s a trial and error experience and that can become very costly.

Here are a few tips for hiring a website programmer or web developer:

Decide what type of programming you want or need. Do you want a website programmer to build you a new custom website built from scratch, a website built from a template, a website redesign or particular website programming enhancements such as quote forms, contact forms etc.

Be as specific as possible in you search engine keywords. If you know what website programming language you need i.e php programming, type in php programmer or custom php programmer. You can even be more specific such as American php programmer or USA php programmer. If you don’t know what programming language you need or want you might try typing in custom website programming for medical supplies. So ideally the more specific your keyword search the more likely you will find a website programmer or web development company that is best suited to your criteria.

Make contact with your perspective website programmer. Choose 3 or 4 different website programmers or programming companies. Don’t bother making contact with any programmer or development company that doesn’t have a phone number in addition to a contact form or email address. Having phone contact is imperative to your successful communication with the website programmer you choose. The best way to initially contact a website programmer is with an email or the use of the perspective programmers contact form and be as specific as possible. If you are not contacted back from your initial email within 1 day take that website programmer off of your list. This is key! If they are a professional and quality website programmer or website programming company they will be returning your email promptly. The quickness of the reply is indicative of a programmers’ professionalism and willingness to take care of your needs.

Have a realistic budget in mind. The old saying goes ‘You get what you pay for’. This is also key when you hire a programmer. As a general rule of thumb if they charge more per hour (within reason) it’s because they’re good at at what they do. You don’t want to trust the success of your website to a programmer that is advertising ‘affordable’ low rate per hour or a newbie programmer that will basically be learning as they go when they build or enhance your website. If you want quality website programming and professional service from a USA web programming or development company look at spending anywhere from $85.00 to $150.00 per hour. Anything less then that… well you must know this saying too “penny wise and pound foolish”. So budget accordingly. A good website developer will be able to accommodate your budget by supplying you with alternatives or even a multiple phase way of approaching your website development.

Talk to a live person. Make phone contact somewhere in between your intitial contact and making your final choice. Make sure you get a good feeling that the person you’re about to trust ‘get’s it’ and is easy to communicate with. First impressions are important. Trust that.

Plan on paying a deposit before work begins. Most programmers will generally ask for a deposit of anywhere between 1/3 to 1/2 of the estimated quote before commencing. This is standard and should be expected. Before you give any deposits make sure you have a good quote ( generally a range for example 10 to14 hours to be completed in 4 to 7 business days). Generally the smaller the programming job the higher the deposit and the larger the programming job the smaller the deposit.

Read testimonials and verify them if necessary by requesting references. When qualifying your website programmer be sure that the clients they have done work for in the past are happy with their services. This goes without saying. Check them out on the web if you have to. Search for “company name”+complaints or +reviews

The bottom line is if you need a programmer make sure you do your homework and follow the simple but effective guidelines above. By doing so your chances to hire a programmer who provides quality website programming and professional service are very good and your overall experience will be well worth the time and effort you spent.